COLOMBIAN VP ON FARC AND VENEZUELA IN PARAGUAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000264 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA, INL, S/CT STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA NSC FOR SUE CRONIN SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD BARBARA JOHNSON JOINT STAFF FOR J5 LTC SCOTT DAVIS NAIROBI FOR MICHAEL FITZPATRICK E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER SNAR ENRG PINR PA CO VE EC CH AR SUBJECT: COLOMBIAN VP ON FARC AND VENEZUELA IN PARAGUAY REF: A. ASUNCION 210 AND PRECEDING ¶B. 05 ASUNCION 1544 ¶C. 05 ASUNCION 1435 AND PRECEDING Classified By: PolOff Mark A. Stamilio, reasons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Summary: Colombian Vice President Santos visited Paraguay March 2-3 to advance ongoing security cooperation and assistance initiatives with the GOP. The GOC delegation found President Duarte more open to constructive dialogue than in the past, which they attribute to a recent discovery that Venezuela wired money to leftist militants in Paraguay's countryside to buy explosives. The GOC's top priority is cooperation on arms trafficking. They also pressed the GOP to "get serious" about anti-narcotics and anti-money laundering initiatives, and suggested that the GOP seek USG assistance in quantifying the amount of marijuana grown in Paraguay. The two countries highlighted anti-terrorism intelligence assistance, anti-kidnapping training, and strengthening of institutions and inter-institutional cooperation as additional priorities for 2006. Cooperation between the GOC and Attorney General Candia is improving. Other countries wonder why the GOC continues to work with the GOP despite the slow pace of progress. The GOC does not want Colombia to become a scapegoat for security problems in Paraguay, as it feels it has in Ecuador. ¶2. (C) On March 8, the Colombian Ambassador advised that Santos will request a bilateral meeting with Secretary Rice in Santiago. He also advised that Venezuela is considering possible political asylum for members of the Patria Libre Party (PPL),a leftist movement with FARC ties and a military wing responsible for kidnappings and murders. He said Colombian VP would raise with USG ways the U.S. and Colombia could cooperate to support Paraguay. End Summary. -------------- Constructive Dialogue -------------- ¶3. (U) Colombian Vice President Santos visited Paraguay March 2-3 to advance security cooperation and assistance initiatives stemming from a bilateral agreement and action plan the GOP and GOC signed in 2005 (ref C). Santos met with �0A;President Duarte, Vice President Castiglioni, and Attorney General Candia. The Vice Presidents signed a joint declaration that highlighted the following five areas as priorities for the 2006 bilateral agenda: -- Narcotics trafficking -- Arms trafficking -- Intelligence -- Strengthening of institutions and inter-institutional cooperation -- Kidnapping -------------- Venezuela Connection Angers Duarte -------------- ¶4. (C) According to Colombian PolCouns Sanchez, Duarte was much more open to constructive dialogue during this visit than he had been in the past. The GOC attributes Duarte's openness to the GOP's recent discovery that unnamed parties in Venezuela wired USD 90,000 to the military wing of the leftist Patria Libre Party (PPL) in Paraguay. A portion of the money was used to buy explosives Paraguayan authorities seized from PPL members in the northern Department of Concepcion in February (ref A). ¶5. (C) Sanchez noted that the Duarte administration's public complaints about the relatively unfavorable terms of an oil deal it signed with Venezuela in December (low interest rates, but high prices) (ref B) surfaced shortly after the GOP discovered the wire transfers. Sanchez asserted this was no coincidence. (Comment: The discovery could also explain subtle signs we have received from the GOP that they are more eager to work with us (e.g., Duarte invited Ambassador to a weekend dinner at his family home, and instructed Interior Minister Benitez to meet Ambassador in Benitez's hometown of Encarnacion during Ambassador's recent trip there). Paraguay's MCA Threshold Program award was helpful and timely in this respect. In the background, Duarte likely also sees better relations with Colombia and the U.S. as important to his push for re-election in 2008, which would require a Constitutional amendment. Colombia's Uribe set a precedent Duarte hopes to follow, and Duarte knows USG support will be key. End Comment.) -------------- Arms Trafficking -------------- ¶6. (C) Sanchez said the GOC's top priority is cooperation on arms trafficking. Paraguay is a transshipment point for arms trafficked to Colombia's illegal armed groups. Weapons stolen from Paraguayan security forces also have ended up in the hands of illegal combatants in Colombia. -------------- --- Narcotics Trafficking and Seeking USG Assistance -------------- --- ¶7. (C) According to Sanchez, Santos was rather blunt with the GOP about anti-narcotics initiatives, chiding them for not knowing the precise amount of marijuana grown in Paraguay and counseling them to get serious about combating the problem. Santos suggested the GOP seek USG assistance in quantifying the amount of marijuana grown, and offered to lobby the USG for such assistance. -------------- Money Laundering -------------- ¶8. (C) Sanchez said Santos was equally blunt about the lack of progress on anti-money laundering initiatives, including legislation that has languished in Congress since 2004. Sanchez reports that relations between Paraguay's anti-money laundering secretariat (SEPRELAD) and their GOC counterparts have been strained. The GOC was unable to convince the GOP to designate money laundering as an area of priority for the 2006 bilateral agenda. -------------- Intelligence -------------- ¶9. (C) For the time being, intelligence assistance will focus primarily on training GOP personnel. The GOC anticipates limited intelligence sharing with the GOP until the two governments establish formal channels for doing so. Colombia is sending a team of intelligence personnel to Paraguay to assist in locating PPL militants believed to be hiding in Paraguay's remote woodlands after killing a policeman the day after authorities seized the aforementioned explosives in the Department of Concepcion (ref A). -------------- Attorney General Candia -------------- ¶10. (C) Sanchez said cooperation between the GOC and Attorney General Candia is improving. In November, Sanchez complained that Candia was not open to cooperation with the GOC, so the GOC continued to view Candia's predecessor, Oscar Latorre, as their most reliable interlocutor (ref C). Since then Candia has become more engaged, and has agreed to travel to Bogota in coming months. ¶11. (C) Comment: As noted in ref C, Candia and Latorre are at odds. The GOC's continued cooperation with Latorre after Candia replaced him as Attorney General is a likely reason why Candia was reluctant to engage the GOC. EmbOffs encouraged Sanchez to reach out to Candia, which he did, and it seems to have had the desired effect. End Comment. -------------- Other Countries' Queries -------------- ¶12. (C) According to Sanchez, his counterparts at other embassies (he mentioned Chile and Argentina, specifically) have asked him why the GOC continues to work with the GOP despite the slow pace of progress on strengthened security cooperation. (Note: In March 2005, Chile offered unspecified cooperation between its Carabineros and the Paraguayan National Police (ref C). End Note.) In the past, Colombian Ambassador Bernal has stressed publicly and in private that the GOC does not want references to the "Colombianization" of Paraguay to stigmatize Colombia and its citizens. Following the Santos visit, Sanchez put a slightly different twist on it -- namely, that the GOC does not want Colombia to become a scapegoat for security problems in Paraguay, as it feels it has in Ecuador. Thus, the GOC will continue to do everything it can to advance security cooperation and assistance with the GOP, so no one can say they failed to do all they could to help Paraguay. -------------- Request for Bilat in Santiago -------------- ¶13. (C) On March 8, Bernal called on Ambassador to advise that Santos will request a bilateral meeting with Secretary Rice in Santiago during President-elect Bachelet's upcoming inauguration (Post advised Department by e-mail). Santos wants to discuss possible areas of multilateral security cooperation with Paraguay. Santos will likely raise his concerns that the GOP does not fully appreciate the seriousness of the PPL's ties to the FARC. It is also likely he will lobby for USG assistance in quantifying the amount of marijuana grown in Paraguay. -------------- Venezuelan Meddling -------------- ¶14. (C) In addition to money being wired from Venezuela to PPL militants, Bernal advised that the GOV is considering possible political asylum for PPL members. Venezuelan Ambassador Huerta called Bernal after President Duarte and others in his administration publicly stated that the GOP plans to "annihilate" the PPL. Huerta noted that the PPL has legal standing as a political party, and that the GOV might therefore be inclined to grant its members asylum to preclude their "persecution" by the GOP. CASON